


No Regrets

by dee430 (tuzitokki)



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Eventual Happy Ending, Gen, M/M, Reincarnation, Tragedy, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-19
Updated: 2014-11-19
Packaged: 2019-01-05 16:49:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,815
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12193836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tuzitokki/pseuds/dee430
Summary: The war against the Titans is almost over. Now there is only one thing left to do, and Eren is determined not to regret anything





	1. The Last Titan

**Author's Note:**

> Possible spoilers up to chapter 54 of the manga.

They had done it. They had defeated the Titans. Humanity had succeeded despite the gigantic odds against them. Scout parties had been sent out even to the farthest regions that had barely been explored, and one by one they all reported what everyone already knew to be true: the Titans were defeated. Plans were already being made to start settlements outside the walls.

There was only one last thing to do.

"My beloved citizens, the reign of the Titans is almost over!" the new king—elected by the people after Christa had stepped down—enthused. "We have only one last Titan to kill, and we can rejoice the success of the humans. Eren Jeager!" He pointed to the dark-haired youth, standing silently between two Military Police solider, face shadowed by his bangs and hands cuffed. "The Last Titan will be executed at daybreak tomorrow!"

Eren had known it was coming, had known it the minute he understood that he was a Titan shifter. After all, he had seen all the other shifters hunted down and killed, had even helped taking down some of them. Being in the Survey Corps had taught him that no true victory could be achieved without sacrifice. He was prepared to give his life if it meant the people could once again live in a world free of terror.

He was, however, unprepared for this.

When the king had announced that he would be executed, he had expected someone from the Survey Corps to do it. They were the primary reason why the Titans had been defeated after all. Having one of them kill the last Titan would be fitting, as well as good publicity—the people would love the symbolism of it. He had been ready for any of his friends to do it—Commander Irvin, Christa (who would have been an ideal choice since she was both a soldier and a noble), Connie, Jean, Sasha, even Mikasa (he would have found a way to convince her to do it if the king had chosen her).

It had never even crossed his mind that it could be  _Levi._

Then he scoffed at his own naiveté.  _Of course_  it would be Levi. Aside from the commander and Christa, he was the best, most obvious choice. He was known as Humanity's Strongest, seen as a hero even before almost single-handedly winning several of the final battles with Titans. He was s super-soldier, perfect and unbeatable.

But all those facts had somehow been delegated to the back of Eren's mind, shadowed by his more persistent views of the small man. Since the first time they had met, Levi had been saving him—from the Titan during the reclamation of Wall Maria, from being an experiment of the Military Police, from his own reckless stupidity during missions. The captain may not be the most affectionate or expressive (hell, he was downright taciturn most of the time) but he had been the one source of stability when Eren had found his life turned upside down. Mikasa and Armen always sided with him unconditionally—Levi knew when to praise and when to reprimand. He was level-headed, always ready with a clear logical solution, keeping Eren in check when the teenager's emotions ran rampant. The initial fear and disgruntlement brought about by the severe beating he had been given had quickly turned into respect and admiration for the imperfect man who fought for what he believed in.

Eren had no fucking clue when love had entered the equation.

Now they were facing each other, Levi's dispassionate eyes looking straight at Eren's resigned ones.

"Ready to die, Jeager?"

The boy smiled, but there was no humour in it. "As I'll ever be, Sir."

He waited until the last minute, until he was sure that the slashing blades would not be able to stop in time. Then, determined to die without regrets, he opened his mouth and said the only words that were on his mind.

" _I love you, Levi."_

There was a flash of silver, and darkness claimed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tuzitokki), [AFF](https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1217835) and [Ask.fm](https://ask.fm/AngelusSuho)


	2. Second chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/tuzitokki), [AFF](https://www.asianfanfics.com/profile/view/1217835) and [Ask.fm](https://ask.fm/AngelusSuho)

_300 years later…_

It was finally spring. The trees were starting to turn green again, and some of the more resilient plants were already showing buds, but there was still a snap in the air. Levi huddled further into his jacket, pulling up the collar to better protect his face and tucking his gloveless hands into the warm pockets. His sister had borrowed ( _stolen)_  his scarf and gloves on her way out the door that morning because she had been running too late to go back up for hers. It was either go cold or use her set, and no way in hell was he using  _those_. The blood red scarf and gloves were too eye-catching for his taste.

So now he was freezing, walking along a crowded road. He kept his head down—a futile effort to stay warm—until a large shadow fell upon him. Only then did he look up at the splendour that was Wall Maria.

The three Walls had served their purposes long ago. They had kept the only stronghold of humanity safe until they had finally managed to wipe out the Titans. Now they served as a monument, a reminder that once, humanity had won against terrible odds. Countless history books were dedicated to the subject. Sometimes, Levi wondered if they were the real sources of his dreams.

Then he shook his head, dismissing the thought. The dreams were too vivid, too real. He could still feel the weight of the Maneuvre Gear at his hips; smell the scent of fresh blood. Hear the screams of people dying around him and the guttural noises of feasting Titans.

Despite being haunted by the dreams for as long as he could remember, he had never found out his identity in that life. All he knew was that he had been a soldier who had faced Titans regularly, so probably someone from the Survey Corps. But he had no clue of his name, his rank, or even how long he had served. He didn't know if he had died in battle or had been one of the lucky few who had lived long enough to retire.

His dreams had mostly been the same, memories of death and blood. But for the past week a new memory had surfaced, or more accurately, a new element. Whereas before he never saw the faces of his companions, the memory-dreams had shown him a clear picture of a young boy with dark hair and green eyes. In some memories the boy would have a smile on his face, but most of them were darker—hate-filled eyes and near-death situations. But what disturbed him the most was the dream-memory of the same eyes, filled with quiet resignation, looking straight at him as blades cut through the air—the voice telling him  _I love you._

It was that dream that drove him to come all the way to the Walls. Something about it had triggered a more recent memory: him at age sixteen, sitting in the library and reading about the execution of the Last Titan, Eren Jeager. He had been filled with an unexplainable feeling of regret then, but had put it down to feeling sorry for the death of someone who in his opinion didn't really deserve to die. Now he knew the real reason: Eren Jeager had died by his hands.

He had tried to find out the identity of the soldier—his past life—but had been faced with dead end after dead end. Apparently, the soldier had refused to be named in any record of history, going as far as to trace each and every document that may have contained his name. He was only known as Humanity's Strongest Soldier.

It frustrated Levi to no end.

So now he was here at a festival that commemorated Jeager's death as a last-ditch effort to find some closure. Apparently finding out more information about his past life somehow lessened the dreams, and he was hoping that finding his past identity would end them completely.

He looked up when the crowd roared, just in time to see the ending of the re-enactment of the execution. He couldn't help but flinch, recalling the feeling of his blades tearing through flesh even with the boy's confession still ringing in his ears.

Feeling slightly ill, he drifted away from the crowd, finding a pocket of silence in the small field along the Wall. He settled himself under the one of the trees and promptly drifted off.

He had no idea how long he'd been there when he felt someone else's presence. More annoyed than worried—he could take care of himself quite well, thank you very much—he opened his eyes to glare.

And ended up almost having a heart attack.

Above him stood a boy about ten years his junior, with dark hair and bright green eyes. The rational part of his mind—muffled by a blanket of shock—whispered that it was impossible, he couldn't possibly still be alive,  _he'd killed him three hundred years ago_. But apparently his mouth wasn't connected to his brain anymore, because the words still formed themselves.

"Eren Jeager…" he breathed.

The boy smiled, and that was when he noticed that  _unlike_  Eren Jeager, this boy didn't have the same haunted look in his eyes. "It's actually Hunt. Eren Hunt. The Jeager line died out three hundred years ago with the execution of the Last Titan."

Levi grasped at his scattered wits, trying to figure out when he'd gone crazy. Then again it wasn't every day that you met the man of your dreams. Literally. "Of course," he said instead, hoping that none of his crazy thoughts showed on his face. "I apologize, my mind was wandering."

"Don't sweat it," Eren Hunt replied. "Even Humanity's Strongest Soldier makes mistakes."

Levi stiffened. "I'm sorry?"

He was subject to a raised brow. "Don't you remember anything,  _Captain Levi?_ "

Oh.

_Oh._

Gazing into the eyes that had haunted him across time, he felt something inside him shift, snap into focus. There was no accusation in the green pools, no blame placed for past mistakes. Levi had finally found what was missing without even realizing that all this time, he had been searching.

Smiling, he reached out a hand to touch the boy's face. "I remember  _everything_ , brat. Including your confession."

Eren— _my Eren_  was the startlingly possessive thought that crossed his mind—just laughed and linked their hands, already saying something about meeting the others. He followed along, absently noting from Eren's babbling that they weren't the only ones with memories of their past life. But that wasn't what his mind was focused on at the moment.

They had been given a second chance. This time, he would make damn sure that neither of them would have any regrets.

**Author's Note:**

> The bunny for this fic came while I was listening to Jiyuu no Tsubasa. It was supposed to be a drabble containing only the part where they're facing each other and Eren confesses his feelings right before he dies. Then Levi refused to leave it at that, so...


End file.
